What Was In Your Mailbox Today??

Today I got a picture postcard from 1904 that I bought on ebay. I found it especially interesting because the name of the famous Welsh village as printed on the card is Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­tysilio­gogo­goch, rather than the more familiar Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch. That is to say that the second llan 'church' is missing from the name on the card.

One day late (it arrived on the 26th), saw the arrival of my latest collection from EPL Apfelbaum, although this one, we decided would be my wife's Christmas present to me. This one is a one volume of Israel in a Scott Specialty series album. I waited until the discount was 60% off, so I (we) got a good deal on it. It's nearly complete from Scott #1 to Scott #1384, the very end of 1999, and is only missing 7-9, the high values in the first coin series. Also, the collection is probably 98% mnh, and in good quality mounts. Almost none of them have the tabs, and at the back of the volume are all the BOB stuff: airmails, postage dues, officials, and a few post office printed stamps. When I got out my catalogue I was surprised at how many of them , including well into the 1980's list for the Scott minimum price, and there are only a few individual stamps (i.e., not counting souvenir sheets) that catalogue for even a dollar or more. Still, I wasn't interested in high CV, the stamps themselves are stunningly beautiful, and I could definitely not have put together this comprehensive a collection, including a very nice album for even a fraction of what we paid for it.

Hebert's 2024 Catalog of Plate Number Singles has arrived.



More details in separate thread under Publications.
https://goscf.com/t/85865

The 1928 permanent stamps perforated after removing pins from the perforator so the stamps would not separate on the paste-up rolls.

I received this really nice post card with a hand-drawn pen and ink drawing of an airplane, along with a message and beautiful lettering. It's a first flight cover from the Dutch East Indies (present day Indonesia) to The Netherlands in June, 1937. It goes with my Art Deco topical collection.

One of my main areas of interest is Great Britain, and since I have probably all the mainstream stamps I will ever own (I cut off buying new stamps about 2018), I've been buying material in other aspects of GB: I've been trying to acquire as many of the postage dues on cover as I can find. I'm often amused at seeing what ploys people use to try to put one over on the Post Office and try to get their letters through with insufficient, or downright incorrect stamps. This cover is funny in that someone in Germany tried sending a letter to the UK (the town of Littlehampton in Sussex) using a 50 million mark inflation stamp from1923. Since the monetary system was overhauled by the end of that year, these inflation issues became worthless, and if you think about it,50 million marks in 1956 money (the year this letter was sent) would probably have been enough to mail almost all the letters sent throughout Germany for one day, or enough to buy a few thousand VW Beetles. I'm also intrigued by the fact that it's addressed to Littlehampton, which is about 10 miles west of Brighton, along the South coast, but it's postmarked, presumably at the receiving office, in Bournemouth-Poole which is at least 50 or 60 miles further west along the south coast. I can't imagine why it would go there first unless Bournemouth-Poole had a bigger sorting office

I remember as a kid, I would order stamps from all the stamp companies in the 70's (Harris, Mystic, Littleton, Garcelon etc..) I would come home from school and immediately hit the mailbox for my treasures!
I find these days I'm doing the same. Can't wait to check the mailbox after work!!
Isn't that a great feeling? Just sayin...

Indeed it is - most of us are nine-year-olds at heart!

Waddsbadds, perhaps the cover never was in Germany, but dropped in the British post with the German stamp affixed as a bit of a postal prank.

Yes, I don't think this ever left the south of England!

GeoffHa and Postal Hysteria, taking another close look at the cover, I think you're both right, that the cover originated in the UK and was never in Germany. I think it was posted in Bournemouth-Poole, because the B-P postmark is the one obliterating the German stamp and the addressee's town of Littlehampton is the postmark which obliterates the postage due stamp. The 5d due rate would have been the correct double deficiency rate for a 2 1/2d letter of the time. It's still a fun and interesting piece and I wonder about the thoughts of the sender. Why would anyone wish to try to "do" the post office out of their fee, especially when sending the letter to a presumably local government agency?

Although apperently without the contents .... rather than an attempt to cheat the postal authorities, it strongly resembles what a disgruntled constituent would do with a letter of complaint ... send it postage due to the Council.

I found my latest 'fulfillment' order delivered through the mail slot yesterday, a vinyl USPS envelope. It was mailed Wednesday so pretty good delivery from the salt mine. Upon opening I found my current treasures in pristine condition & ready for cataloging & insertion into my 2024 album of US issues. (I received these prior to payment clearing my bank, surprise!). Now I'm getting my February order together.

Moneil, that looks like an interesting book. Let us know how you like it in a post someday.